10107238AI & Model-based Health Monitoring and Fault Diagnosis for Autonomous VesselsClosedLaunchpadInnovate UKA major global corporate marine insurer reported that in 2022 machinery damage or failure accounted for almost half of all casualties or incidents on vessels globally. A significant attraction of autonomous vessels is the possibility of operating without a crew. In conventional crewed vessels, the propulsion systems and associated equipment are routinely inspected by the crew, however with autonomous uncrewed operations this will no longer be possible. The high levels of machinery-related incidents currently being experienced by shipping are therefore only likely to increase with the projected proliferation of autonomous uncrewed vessels unless some action is taken. Unplanned loss of propulsion at sea on an uncrewed commercial autonomous vessel has serious implications in terms of the financial impacts resulting from the vessel's inability to complete its mission, the costs of recovery of the vessel and fault repair, and also safety implications for the vessel drifting uncontrolled at sea. In their Innovate UK funded project, Avenca plan to use their experience of applying AI and fault diagnostics in other sectors such as aviation to research the development of a cost-effective machinery health monitoring and fault diagnostic system for autonomous vessels. The project will involve researching the feasibility of developing AI and model-based fault diagnostics for autonomous vessels, initially focusing on electric motor-based propulsion systems. The project also aims to take advantage of recent developments in low-cost low-power sensors. The ultimate objective is to produce a system that can provide sufficient forewarning and tracking of a fault's development to ensure that equipment failures do not happen mid-voyage, and maintenance can be planned to fit with voyage plans. The Department for Transport's "Maritime 2050 Navigating the Future" document identifies that Autonomous shipping offers the opportunity to reduce crewing costs, which can be up to 50% of total costs, producing a $52bn market opportunity which includes the sub-24 metre autonomous surface and underwater vessels increasingly used in the defence, energy and marine science industries. This project aims to help ensure that these savings can be realised and are not jeopardised by unplanned mid-voyage failures, whilst also enhancing safety at sea.